As described in said patents and publication, upon receiving notice of the unauthorized movement of an owner's vehicle equipped with such a “LoJack” or similar system, the owner so notifies the police or other recovery authority to put in operation the vehicle-installed transponder that is then activated to transmit radio-tracking signals to the police or others for tracking the stolen vehicle for recovery of the same.
Earlier systems for automatically sensing the unauthorized tampering, use, or more generally the movement of the vehicle include, for example, that described in earlier U.S. Pat. No. 5,917,423 of said assignee.
While the above-referenced theft recovery techniques are widely and highly successfully in use, permitting recoveries by the police and up to about five hours of notification on the average, they cannot be put into tracking-recovery operation until there is actual notification that the vehicle is missing. The present invention, accordingly, is directed toward shortening the time that it takes to alert the owner of unauthorized movement of the vehicle, being concerned with improved motion sensing and automatic generation of an alarm or warning of vehicle theft.